Huntsman World Senior Games Active Life

#340 – The Plate Method

June 18, 2021 Kyle M Case & Lil Barron
Huntsman World Senior Games Active Life
#340 – The Plate Method
Show Notes Transcript

Hanna Matthias is originally from Logan, UT, and graduated from the dietetics program at Utah State University. She joined the nutrition department at St. George Regional Hospital in 2020 as a clinical dietitian and most recently took the position of an outpatient dietitian at Intermountain’s St. George LiVe Well Center. She shares with us some simple, easy and sustainable ways to make sure we are eating for our health and to live the active life.

Kyle and Lil also talk a bit about the event of mountain biking and some of the changes coming up in 2021 including a new cross country course that will be added.

Kyle Case  0:03  
Welcome to the Huntsman World Senior Games Active Life. My name is Kyle Case and I'll be your host on this amazing journey as we attempt to help you get the most out of your life. Joining me in our studio today is my co pilot Lil Baron 

Lil Barron  0:18  
Hi, how are you. Good. 

Kyle Case  0:26  
So listen, registrations for the Huntsman World Senior Games are piling I know, I mean they are piling up one on top of the other on top of the other. We have over 7600 registered athletes for the games in October, which again is ahead of pace of where we were in 2019 which was our record year we hope and think, anticipate that this will be a record year again hopefully we have well over 11,000 athletes. By the time it's all said and done, at least that's what we're looking for. It feels like people are excited. 

Lil Barron  0:58  
Oh, definitely excited 

Kyle Case  1:01  
Oh, yeah, yeah, people are excited we are to yeah we missed it last year, we're definitely ready to move forward. Last time, last week on the show we talked a little bit about swimming, as one of our 35 amazing sports Yes, today I thought it might be fun to talk a little bit about mountain biking. 

Lil Barron  1:19  
Oh good, 

Kyle Case  1:20  
So just a few things just kind of lay the groundwork here, a little foundation here, mountain biking was first contested in 1997, which was 10 years after the games were found a mouth, and listen, I mean, some of the events that we have and that we offer and that we add to the world so your games are a no brainer for a senior sporting event and all you think about golf for example like that's that's a given, but that's just, that's a no brainer.

Obviously an easy fit. But in 1997, when the Games added  mountain biking. It raised a few eyebrows. Like, we know you know you and I know and many people know that age has little to do with your desire or even your ability to compete in the sport of your choice. But in 1997, kind of as a society we were still kind of learning that, so it was pretty groundbreaking. At the time when we offered mountain biking for the first time. Over the years, like in all of our sports we've worked with some amazing sport directors, our sport directors, they're the, of course the people who actually run the competition part of the games the they arranged for officials, the timers, in the case of mountain biking, they help us set the course. Right, so you know we know where to go and how that's going to work. They work with recruiting volunteers, the vast majority of our volunteers come through our sports directors They're volunteers themselves. In most cases, our sports director for mountain biking is Margaret Gibson. Yes, she's been directing not making for us since 2013 Wow, so she's got some amazing experience even outside of the games. This is what she does she runs mountain biking races, She's very experienced, she does an amazing job for us. This year though I think it's worth noting that we've made a couple of kind of significant adjustments to our mountain biking event. We've actually eliminated the uphill and the downhill races which we've had for years, and we've added an additional cross country course, So, it looks a little bit different for those who have been here in the past. So now we have to cross country mountain bike races. The Green Valley course is a 10.16 Kilometer course with about 250 meters of elevation gain. So, you know it's a challenging course this is for our expert and for our sport writers is kind of the the medium range, writers, we do have a beginners course as well though out there that is 4.15 kilometers with about 68 meters of elevation gain. All of the Great Valley area. If you're from the area you might be familiar with that if you're not, it's a really a mountain by Kevin bright for mountain bikers some amazing trails amazing courses out there. The Green Valley race takes place on Tuesday October 12 This year, the day preceding that Monday October 11 That's the one where we have the brand new course for this year. This course is a 13.1 Kilometer track so a little bit longer, about 183 meters of elevation gain so slightly flatter and this course is in another amazing mountain bike area it's out in virgin Utah, it's about a 35 minute drive from St George proper amazing mountain bike area. All of our course descriptions, the maps, including GPS files are available on our website that is senior games.net In case you want to ride the trails and kind of get a feel for them and what they are. And like I was earlier talking about age having nothing to do with desire or ability to ride, Frederick Schmid, from Waco, Texas, okay, he turns 88 this year. So in 2019 when he competed he was 86 years old, he competed in the expert division in cross country, as well as uphill and the downhill, and it's worth noting that, my man Frederick He's competed 11 times. Wow, in the games, you know, I think I was at that social event, did you I did so when he comes back this year he'll be at eight years old still right mountain bikes. Yeah, it's awesome. It's not to be outdone, we have Mary Diodati, who is from Santa Barbara, California. She was over 70 and 2019 when she competed in the uphill downhill, and the cross country divisions, carrying the flag for the women. She has made the trip from California four times to compete in the games we hope to see both Fredrik as well as Mary once again this year competing at the Games. Now remember if mountain biking is your thing, now is the tried to get registered you could do that once again at senior Game Stop net and if mountain biking is not your thing, you're in luck because we have 34 hours. You can find all the information that you need us to use that man to have one heck of a time, what looks like is going to be a record right here for us so we're, again like I said,

I'm really looking forward to little this week's guest.Today is Hannah Mathias. She is originally from Logan Utah and graduated from the universe, or excuse me Utah State University in the dietetics program, she joined the nutrition department at St George Regional Hospital in 2020 as a clinical dietitian. And then most recently took the position of an outpatient dietitian and inner mountain St George live well Center. She loves working with clients to help improve their lives through nutrition, while simultaneously fostering a positive relationship with food. Oh, is this something that not all of us have no should be good yeah and is currently pursuing a master's degree in dietetic administration, she loves sunshine Disneyland spending time with her husband and dog, and eating delicious food, and welcome to the show. Hi, thanks for having me. You are very welcome. We're excited not only to get to know you, but to figure out how we can all have a positive relationship. 

Lil Barron  7:18  
Ooh, tell me you eat Cheetos, just say yes. 

Hanna Mathias  7:24  
If I liked them, I would. I know that's I know that's a hot take, but they're not, they're not my favorite, right now. 

Lil Barron  7:40  
Well, we're going to have me eat broccoli and get it. 

Hanna Mathias  7:46  
Not quite the same. I

Kyle Case  7:50  
Like I said we're excited to get to know them and talk a little bit about food and it really had to have a positive ride but it is a bit of a struggle and maybe get some tips and tricks on how we can understand how we can include diet as part of our active life approach and attempt to live the best life that we possibly can. Start us off what's, what's the best, or at least a way that we can approach this, this aspect of our health and wellness.

Hanna Mathias  8:17  
Yeah so, I think, really, in general nutrition doesn't need to be complicated. We don't need to be eating a specific way or a certain way to support our health. And so, I mean, when we're talking about nutrition and supporting an active lifestyle, just supporting our health in general. And I really like to just boil it down to two a few simple things. I like to call it the plate method and so when we're saying down to a meal, whether that's on home whether that's out. I just encourage people to focus on getting three components and that's trying to get some protein, trying to get a green and they're trying to get a fruit or vegetable and really if we're if we're viewing nutrition and eating and that way, we're getting a pretty balanced, healthy diet overall, and it's a pretty simple way to look at it.

Kyle Case  9:16  
Yeah, definitely. What you're describing is pretty simple right, you know, you try to think about a protein whatever that looks like whether that is legumes or beans or some. But you know, eggs, cheese, those kinds of things you want a grain. So you're talking bread, You're talking rice you're anything that fits.

Hanna Mathias  9:38  
Sure, anything the more full grains you can get as well. The more nutrition, you're going to get to the more fiber, the more vitamins and minerals so whether that's choosing brown rice or white rice or whole wheat pasta or you mentioned breads, we're doing a whole wheat bread option. Those are all great choices,

Kyle Case  9:57  
And then round it out with the vegetable Yeah. Yeah, exactly. 

Lil Barron  10:02  
I know what you're gonna say, 

Kyle Case  10:06  
you know, I eat as many Cheetos as you do so. Anyway so simple, basic stuff. Do we need to worry about quantity or ratios is that something we should be considering.

Hanna Mathias  10:21  
Good question. Yeah, so the plate method again it's it kind of simplifies it simplifies nutrition so I mentioned those three components of protein grain produce kind of how we want to look at it on, on our plates for example is if we're looking at a meal if we're looking at our plate we want to try and fill about half of that space with our fruits and veggies, and then split up the rest of our plate between that protein component, and our grain. So, again, instead of, you know, having to spend time measuring out quantities or you know weighing or food, we can just kind of look at it in terms of quantities on our plates, how many fruits and vegetables, I'm getting does it make up about half of half of the space there, and then filling the rest with those other components.

Kyle Case  11:11  
And I like that too. Yeah. You know I was. This is pretty typical of me but I was at a service club where I have a meeting, we have a lunch and they're, they're wise you know they're smart, they put the salad first in line, because if it was at the end of the line, I would not have room. It's just the way that it works. Yeah, yeah. So um first, but I will say this I always get to the good. You know the good parts I know some people print blame maybe that is, for me it's more the carbs, you know, but I always feel like I overdid the salad. By the time I get to the good and always happy, you know, always happy that I did because then you're eating healthier but but yeah so half your plate fruits and vegetables. And then the other half you split between your proteins, and your, your, your grains. I mean what a simple way to approach it because I think sometimes you said it we get caught up in. Oh, you can only have six ounces of this are some of your milligrams like that and like, as much as I want to think, oh I could, I could figure that out, like, I just don't figure it out. I don't have a meal. I just, it needs to be simple. In other words, in order for it to work for me, it just needs to be simple, and I like that idea of just switch plate in half and put your fruits and vegetables on one half and then cut the other two areas of health

Hanna Mathias  12:41  
right and it's more sustainable that way too. I think because I think what a lot of us run into is burnout. When it comes to nutrition or trying to eat healthier, we'll say okay, you know. Tomorrow's the day I'm going to start, you know, quote unquote diet or I'm going to I'm going to try and eat healthier and then, you know, pretty soon if we are tracking every, every single thing all the time, or, you know, worrying so much about what what we're eating all the time. We burn out really quickly. And so what yeah and so it. This method makes it a little bit. It's a little bit more of a sustainable way to, to eat nutritiously without having to micromanage you know what, what we're taking in every day.

Kyle Case  13:32  
Though I will say of this you know this diagram on our plate that we just spelled out you know half fruits and vegetables and and half grains have proteins. For me it's probably the hardest to get the fruits and vegetables if I'm honest with myself, but for others that won't be the case that they love it and it's easy for them but for me, that's a little bit harder What tips do you have that could help me a little more produce in my life.

Hanna Mathias  13:57  
Sir sir yeah that's that's a great question and I mean, at first I would recommend experimenting kind of expanding trying to expand your repertoire of fruits and vegetables and siding options that you really enjoy right because go kind of going back to the sustainability factor if we're forcing ourselves to eat certain fruits and veggies, we're not going to enjoy that. So I want. We want to make fruits and vegetables. Something part of our diet that we can enjoy from day to day and try it and then so like I said that that kind of comes down to trying new things go into the grocery store and this is a fun, fun thing to I think if you do have like grandchildren or, or children if you go grocery shopping, have them pick out a new fruit or veggie and then, you know, try it all together, Google recipes for that specific sort of vegetable. Another great way to do that is to look into some, some produce co ops, Or, like, food service I know there are a lot of farmers markets in this area as well that are really fun. Um, Bountiful Baskets is one that you can go pick up, you know, a new basket or box of produce from week to week, so it kind of gives you some variety to the point where you're trying new things as fun and then you find those things that you that you enjoy and that you can incorporate into your diet, from day to day.

Kyle Case  15:28  
I like them, I like that you also mentioned to Google a recipe, you know, because of some of these services that are houses at my house before, and, you know, again like I said this is probably the hardest one for me but I found that we were just wasting a lot of it because we picked out the things that we recognize that maybe didn't know what to do with these other things you know like what are what are these things. Yeah, sorry idea of googling a recipe and then just committing to trying something new is great, and I will say, you know, again, just personally. We have discovered that there are a couple of vegetables that would have normally been on our do not eat list. We actually like because it's just plain it's still there, but, like, you know, asparagus is not one of them I would traditionally say well I love asparagus, and yet we have it now and we've you know the way that we like to prepare it and it's tasty that simple, it's not, it's not, you know saucy or anything like that it's just, it's just the asparagus and then brussel sprouts like I know brussel sprouts is kind of this like this whipping child of all vegetables like if you ever wanted to sit on, and they were talking about vegetables, it's gonna be brussels sprouts, you know, it's true. But we found a simple way to cook them we boil until they're kind of softened and then we squish them I don't know if what the switching does to it but we switch that put a little bit of oil, a little bit of salt in bacon for just a minute. And it's really good. Like I see your face. If someone had said to me you want to eat brussel sprouts tonight, I would have made that same face yeah keep, but it's turned into kind of one of our family variables yeah and very Yeah, so I think yeah I love that example. 

Hanna Mathias  17:12  
kind of getting out, getting outside of the box yeah I guess and and trying new recipes I love that, that's my recommendation if you're if you're averse to vegetables especially try roasting them, like you mentioned, it really brings out a nice flavor. Put some, a little bit of oil on there a little bit of salt and pepper and it's very tasty so.

Kyle Case  17:36  
Again easy and then here's the great thing this, this is I think important to mention because if you find that you don't like it still, then just don't make it again but I choose not to do, I think. Not that we're great is because we're not but sometimes you get caught in this idea of, I have to eat my fill in the blank. I know it's brilliant. Broccoli isn't your thing, then find another one that you enjoy eating and you'll give it a, give it a shot and I'm with you roasting has been something that has really kind of opened up some, some options for us so look at this, and we hear a lot about getting your fruits and your vegetables, and of course they all come in a wide variety of colors and we know that there are phytonutrients and chemicals and things that make these colors appear. How important is it that you include a variety of colors or is it okay to just kind of stick with your, your standard like an apple a day or whatever.

Hanna Mathias  18:31  
Sure, sure. I mean, the more the more color you can get in terms of your produce exactly like you said, you know, the more the more vitamins and minerals, you're going to get across the board, I guess I should say the more, the more variety in vitamins and minerals, you're going to get. So, and again, there it is about finding that balance, like you said, if you don't like a certain fruit or vegetable, you don't need to include that but continue to try new things so that you, you are getting a good variety of course, something is better than nothing. So I will never say you know no to to eating an apple a day by any means but um yeah you're exactly right thought that the more variety you can get, the more the more you can eat the rainbow are really the, the more benefits you're going to reap from the nutrition and those different fruits and vegetables. 

Kyle Case  19:30  
And then I guess you know that really falls into that idea once again I've gone to the grocery store with your kids, grandkids whatever and just picking out something new, just to see because you're looking for that new adventure, you're going to be exposed to different, different colors and different vintage troubles as well. Exactly, also wondering, um, you know, we, whenever I envision eating vegetables, it's usually fresh fruits and vegetables. Sometimes that's not available or it's inconvenient or whatever, tell us about frozen fruits and vegetables. Is it is it just as good, Is it something that's kind of a filler or to try to avoid the frozen altogether.

Hanna Mathias  20:10  
Yeah, great question, and frozen fruits and vegetables are going to be just as nutritious as your fresh, and it can also be a really cost effective option just because I know, especially if you're your age, you're living alone or maybe they're only a couple people in your household I know a lot of people run into the issue of their produce going bad before they can eat it. So yeah so frozen, frozen produce is a really really great option to include, you know in your rotation and it is going to give you the same nutrition as fresh. 

Kyle Case  20:49  
Excellent, great and good you know, we spend most of our time talking about fruits and vegetables again. That's a weakness, but I know that I've talked to a lot of people that sometimes struggle to find, to get the protein that they have any tips on how to get enough protein in your diet.

So, again, I think it goes back to variety and finding, finding the variety of protein options that you enjoy, I think a lot of people lock box themselves into to like the meat category, I guess when it comes to protein and that's not necessarily the case, you can get, you know your proteins from from beans from nuts from legumes, I know you know Keane was a big trendy one that's emerged over the years. So even some you know some grains have had a good amount of protein as well so I would say you know don't don't box yourself in and try to get, again, you know, some form of protein with each meal but that doesn't mean that you need to be having meat necessarily with with each meal you're gonna get a good variety and a good amount of protein, across your day from even those plant sources.

So, but it can mean that you could eat meat as well. Right?

Hanna Mathias  22:19  
You can certainly yeah you can certainly incorporate those meal options into your, into your meals but you don't need to feel boxed in by bathroom there

Kyle Case  22:28  
there are other options and, yeah, yeah. Awesome. Well, we've only got about 30 seconds left. Last minute tip, like if, if we're just, you know, we're just trying to approach this in a way that's, that's sustainable and we can move forward with what do you tell your clients that seems to be the most useful and usable as you're sending them out.

Hanna Mathias  22:49  
Yeah, so I am all about focusing on what we can add to our meals to make them more nutritious more nutritious rather than what we need to be eliminating or taking away. So, I think, you know that goes along with our theme today is when we're looking at a meal, we're just looking at it in terms of you know, is there anything that I can add to this to make it a little bit more nutritious to give me the fuel that I needed and like I said, that's, that's a much more positive, you know, sustainable way to view our nutrition in general.

Kyle Case  23:23  
Great advice. I like that and if that I think we all respond well to, let's add something on rather than Let's take something away, or otherwise, just sit our lives, someone says you got to take this away. I don't know why we bristle like that was. Exactly. Great advice. What can we, what can we add that will make this more nutritious and, you know, help us accomplish our overall health and wellness goals anyway so right. Wonderful Hannah, thank you so much for joining us today. We appreciate your advice and your expertise and looking forward to adding new thing, yes. Great, well thank you so much for having me Linda and I enjoyed it, the best to you. Yeah, it was very good. I like the simple just simple basic approach.

Lil Barron  24:13  
I love how she said a path that is easy to understand. Yeah I could picture it.

Kyle Case  24:18  
I know sometimes I get kind of in the how many milligrams. I ended up, I don't know, I don't even know what it looks like.  Just to wrap us up here a couple of things I didn't mention at the beginning but I'm gonna mention that the registration for the hospital and Senior Games is open, you can check out all the schedules the rules the dates as well as our COVID-19 plan that's gonna help keep us all safe at senior Gamestop net. We've got a bunch of other great content there as well, including access to our living your best life webinar series, just a whole bunch of good stuff. Remember to tune in live next and every Thursday at 5:30pm Mountain Time on AM 1450 are FM 93.1 For the husband world senior gains active life. We do take this live show and turn it into a podcast, and you can also subscribe pretty much anywhere where you find your podcast. If you're listening by Podcast Take a moment, give us a rating or write a quick review, one of the best and easiest places to leave a review is at pod chaser.com slash the active life. And of course you can listen to this as well as previous shows right now website again seniorgames.net so check that out today's inspirational file.

This is a good one. Do not give the past the power to define your future. Very nice. Until next Thursday, stay active.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai